Product Details

• Actors: Kansas
• Format: Color, DVD, Live, Dolby, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: COMPENDIA MUSIC GROUP
• DVD Release Date: October 8, 2002
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (101 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00006L924
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #33,362 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This exceptional DVD will convince you that the best American progressive rock band is still Kansas. Shot on Super-16mm film and digitally mastered, Device, Voice, Drum was recorded before an appreciative audience in Atlanta on June 15, 2002. The two-hour concert finds Kansas in peak form, the band members now in their 50s, with thicker waistlines (except for trim vocalist-keyboardist Steve Walsh) and sounding better than ever in pristine 5.1-channel Dolby. "Just because they call you a dinosaur band doesn't mean you can't rock," says violinist Robby Steinhardt in the DVD's bonus interviews, and the group backs those words with a high-precision set of ballads and epic anthems. "The Preacher" includes a full choir; "Dust in the Wind" is still an all-time classic; and of course "Carry On Wayward Son" perfectly embodies Kansas's signature sound (even though Walsh now avoids the highest notes). Featuring a dazzling computer-animated music machine (illustrated on the DVD cover), this well-produced disc proves that the band is anything but fossilized. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Performance, April 4, 2006

By	RockOn "Concert DVD Collector" (Mid Atlantic) - See all my reviews

Ignore the knuckleheads with their irrelevant reviews. I've been a Kansas fan forever, and thoroughly enjoyed the DVD. I've seen them live three times in the 70's and 80's, and no, this isn't quite as good as those shows, but it still rocks, and is a MUST-HAVE for any Kansas fan, even the casual one. Religion and stage distractions aside, here's what I thought of the DVD:

1. Video: 3 out of 5. They used some kind of grainy effect in the production of the video, I suppose to give it an extra artistic look. Not my cup of tea. The shots they used, and the fact that they stayed on the band members for a reasonable amount of time was good (as opposed to some concerts I've watched where they bounce back and forth so quickly you get a headache).

2. Audio: 4.5 out of 5. Excellent sound. Not quite up to "Hell Freezes Over" (Eagles) or "In the Flesh" (Roger Waters), but very enjoyable and a good use of all 5.1 channels. I would have liked to have been able to hear Robbie Steinhardt's violin a little better. Phil Ehart's drums will knock you out of your chair.

3. Instruments. 5 out of 5. Awesome. These guys haven't lost a single beat when it comes to playing their gear. Steve Walsh was excellent on keyboards, and Richard Williams was awesome on lead guitar.

4. Vocals. 4 out of 5 because of Robbie Steinhardt. I agree that Steve Walsh should have kept the ad-libbing to a minimum, though he was still very good. Robbie was AWESOME on Cheyenne Anthem and Child of Innocence in particular.

5. Song Selection. 4 out of 5. Some great tunes, and certainly most of their biggest hits. Point of No Return, He Knew, Carry On Wayward Son, Song for America, (and more) - not a bad set list at all.

6. Audience - a bunch of old farts like me. What were you expecting, a bunch of 15 year-olds?

Seriously, if you've ever been a Kansas Fan, or think you might be, get this DVD. You won't be disappointed.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SIMPLY THE BEST BAND EVER!, June 23, 2005

By	Bob in Bath Pa. - See all my reviews

I have been a Kansas fan since 1973, when I saw a video on Don Kirshner's Rock Palace. I have seen them 5 times over the years, but only once since 1982. Interesting story on how I last saw them in 2003, when I purchased the DVD, (on Robby's recommendation).
In November 2003 I stopped in a Wegman's Market in Nazareth Pennsylvania for lunch with my family. I looked over in the sub shop aisle and I saw this guy with long, curly, wild, reddish hair and a beard. You don't see that much anymore, and I looked again. It looked like Robby Steinhardt, but I was about 75 feet away, so I wasn't sure. I moved closer and by now the guy saw me staring at him. I figured I would talk to him and appologize on the front end for bothering him and staring, if it wasn't him. Well it was Robby, and we spent the next 30 minutes talking about many things. He couldn't have been nicer. He was there with his wife and manager. What a class act! At the end of the conversation he asked me if I would like tickets to see Kansas play. Of course I said yes, even though we had just had a death in the family. He offered me tickets either in Camden NJ that night or in Reading PA the next night. I took the tickets to Reading, and he said he would leave them at the Will Call window. He also wrote a nice note to my son who was 8 years old at the time, and was taking violin lessons. To make a long story shorter, I went to the concert and the tickets turned out to be 4 tickets, 2nd row center. What a concert, just incredible. Robby sent his manager out at intermission to ask me if the seats were ok. Again what a class act!!!!! I found out later when I returned to Wegman's at a later time, that after we left, someone had a camera, and Robby spent another 20 minutes taking pictures with the many fans who realized who he was, after they saw me and my family talking to him. Again what a class act!

Now for the DVD review: What can I say? This is the best one I have ever seen! The band is incredible. Everyone should own this, even if they are not particularly Kansas fans, just to see what incredible musicianship is about. Phil Ehart has to be the best drummer of his era. Steve Walsh does a superb job on the vocals and keyboards. Rich Williams does a fine job on the guitars, he is not quite a fluid and flowing as Kerry but he is extremely credible and solid, especially since he is covering 2 parts. Billy Greer is very good and extremely likeable as well. To describe Robby Steinhardt: words just do not do justice. His technical expertise, his phrasing and sensitivity are beyond any musician of the era. He is equally comfortable playing Kansas songs or playing in concert orchestra, which he did prior to joining Kansas. His playing is the stuff that legends are written about.
Negatives: I could have done without the anamatronic virtual machine sequences. It spoiled Miracles Out Of Nowhere for me. I would have liked to see the musicians performing, not a computer generated machine. I would have loved to see People Of The South Wind included in the song selections, but you can't have everything.
Positives: Everything else, but especially a tremendously tight and virtuosous performance of Journey From Marriabonne, Dust In The Wind with the string quartet, and Howling At The Moon. No other band or individual musicians Hendrix, Clapton, Page, ELP, Tull or any other can come close to Kansas as a band or especially to Steinhardt and Ehart a individuals!!!!!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 30-YRS OF "IN CONCERT" EXPERIENCE SHINES THROUGH!, April 9, 2003

By	E. W. (Ed) Chambers (Lafayette, IN / Purdue Univ, West Lafayette) - See all my reviews

PERSONAL RATING - I give DEVICE-VOICE-DRUM by KANSAS five stars. If the performance itself were a bit closer to two hours in length (it runs about 103 minutes, including animated intro and closing credits), I would likely try to CHEAT and rank it with six stars!

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS AND COMMENTS - The band's overall "tightness" especially in the highly syncopated and faster paced passages (Icarus II, Cheyenne Anthem, Portrait - He Knew) does not suffer in the slightest; the choir accompaniment (The Preacher) blends marvelously with the band's sound; both the string quartet and the candle-light/laser-light effects make Dust in the Wind beautiful to hear AND lovely to behold; Phil Ehart's expertise (drums, percussion) is evident throughout the performance (especially in songs such as Journey from Mariabronn, Portrait - He Knew, and Miracles out of Nowhere); Billy Greer's performance (bass, harmony, some lead vocals on Fight Fire With Fire and Play the Game Tonight), although sadly "overlooked" at times within the DVD, is outstanding; Robby Steinhardt's playing (violin) and singing (both harmony and lead) is in strong form. . .excellent on-stage "presence"; Steve Walsh's vocals (lead vocal, keyboards), in terms of both tone and strength, are much improved since "Live at the Whiskey" (1992) and seem to improve as THIS performance runs its course; Rich Williams (guitar, acoustic guitar) is as precise and meticulous as ever.

DVD "SPECIAL" FEATURES - The animated features, including a short DVD "extra" and a short animated segment within the concert itself (which, frankly, could have been left out. . .I would have preferred continuing to watch the band's performance!) are, like KANSAS, unique and special; "interviews" with band members and others, though brief, are insightful and interesting; the "discography" will be of interest to long-time fans and relative newcomers - it neatly summarizes the group's nearly 30-year-long recording history!

PERSONAL REMARKS - This DVD offers the obvious "hits" for those who might be less familiar with KANSAS, but also displays the life and blood of the group; the unique sounds and rhythms that have always been KANSAS trademarks. DEVICE-VOICE-DRUM will likely convince anyone who is inclined to watch that - after nearly 30 years of recording and "in concert" experience - this is (still) KANSAS. . .and KANSAS is (still) a band!